In February 2015, Matters On Tomorrow Executive Director Scott Lloyd returned to Montrouis, Haiti to spend time with our friends and partners at Jacobs Well. The week focused on the state of projects, leadership development and the future direction of programs there.
To encourage future involvement and exchanges, Matters On Tomorrow provided a 0% interest loan to Jacob’s Well in 2014 to rent a house near the Pistos Church/community center. The center is the building that MOT helped construct in 2014; the intent is for volunteers to actually be in the neighborhood we serve. Mark has dedicated his time to preparing the house for future volunteer lodging.
With these volunteers and continued support, 2015 will prove to be another successful year. Plans for the immediate future include adding a second floor to the community center, holding a food distribution for the neighborhood once a month, and starting August construction of a school that would provide 4 teachers with jobs and 100 kids each year with educations. We are very excited, but we also are very intentional to ensure these programs are sustainable.
We are also happy to report that our pilot year of microloans has been a success! Out of the original loans, 3 of 5 have been repaid, and 2 of the 5 have been provided with a second round of funding at an increased dollar amount. Matters On Tomorrow is still determining how we evaluate and support the recipients of our loans as well as the best ways to decide loan size and ensure community accountability. However, these decisions will come with time, and we are committed to figuring it out.
Of course we always enjoy spending time with the kids in our neighborhood! These are the exact kids that will attend our new school, which is pretty incredible!